Stand Down 2024 demonstrated ATLAS capabilities to Veterans

Earlier this year, American Legion Post 12 welcomed Veterans, VA telehealth representatives, community-based organizations and more for the annual Wickenburg Stand Down. This event provided demonstrations of the site’s ATLAS pod and connected Veterans to local health and wellness resources.

ATLAS stands for Accessing Telehealth through Local Area Station.

Telehealth representatives from Phoenix and Northern Arizona VA attended the stand down to connect with local Veterans. Stacey Hodges is one of those representatives. As a lead clinical telehealth registered nurse in Phoenix VA’s telehealth department, she uses these events to educate Veterans about services they may not know are available to them.

“We have over 100,000 Veterans assigned to Phoenix VA,” Hodges said. “We want to ensure that a high percentage of those Veterans are using telehealth services or know that they’re available to them if they are ever interested.”

ATLAS demonstrations, community connections

Hundreds of Veterans attended the Wickenburg Stand Down to learn about the programs and health resources that are available to them.

Veterans had the opportunity to tour the ATLAS pod and learn about its capabilities. The pod offers Veterans a private comfortable space to meet with their VA providers through VA Video Connect, VA’s secure videoconferencing app. During the event, five Veterans used the technology provided in the pod to attend their VA video telehealth appointments.

Post 12 holds the only ATLAS pod in Arizona. It is shared between Phoenix and Northern Arizona VA.

The stand down also hosted Veteran-based service organizations and VA booths. A VA mobile medical unit administered on-site vaccinations to interested Veterans.

“I’m a Veteran, so when I attend a stand down, I look around and learn about services I didn’t know were available,” said Air Force Veteran Hodges. “I want to make sure other Veterans know about virtual health modalities, virtual care tools and other telehealth services that make their lives easier.”

Standing up for Veterans

Hodges and her team connected with Veterans at the event and discussed how telehealth can serve their specific needs. They also worked to address any questions or concerns Veterans had about available telehealth services.

“We like to emphasize to Veterans that telehealth can facilitate your care in a convenient, easy, high-quality and secure way,” Hodges said.

The team attended the Maricopa State Fairgrounds Stand Down March 21-22 and the Arizona Coalition for Military Families Statewide Symposium from April 17-18. They hope to continue educating Veterans in Arizona, especially in rural communities, about accessing VA digital health technologies.

“The premise of a stand down event is to stand down from what your normal daily activity would be and stand up for Veterans. You stop your normal processing and help support a Veteran’s need in real time,” Hodges added.

To learn more about ATLAS or find the nearest ATLAS site, visit the ATLAS webpage.